Jump to content

Our trip to Xunantunich


CabinForFour

Recommended Posts

We visited Belize aboard the (Carnival) Paradise on March 23. Here's the Belize portion of my cruise review, in case anyone wants the info. There are also several photos here...

 

The ship anchored six miles (yes, six MILES—whew!) offshore, and we then tendered onto the shore in smaller boats. DH and I took the ship-sponsored excursion to the Mayan ruins of Xunantunich, which are located at the western border of Belize only two miles from the neighboring country of Guatemala. Since our excursion involved significant travel time, we were some of the first people off the ship. The tender ride seemed very rough and long, but our 90-minute ride across Belize was aboard a nice Greyhound-type bus. Our tour guide gave an amusing and informative introduction to the country, its history, and its culture. The 90-minute bus ride went very quickly, and we arrived at Xunantunich just as it started raining. Argh!

 

The rain fell harder and harder. By the time we walked up the hill to the ruins, it was pouring. There go my fantasies of photographing the site against a beautiful blue sky and being able to see into Guatemala from the top of El Castillo. The site was amazing nonetheless. We climbed to the top of the castle in the pouring rain and then explored the smaller buildings nearby. The buildings are constructed of white limestone and must have been so beautiful when they were new. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to explore the outlying areas of the site because of the weather.

 

We explored the site for a while and then ferried back across the river to our bus for a late lunch at nearby Windy Hill Resort. Keep in mind, of course, that the term “resort†in Belize is used very loosely. Think one-step-above-cheap-hotel-in-Myrtle-Beach resort, not Atlantis Resort. That being said, our lunch of stewed chicken, beans and rice, cole slaw, fried plantain and fruit punch was excellent! We ate quickly and headed back to the ship even more quickly. Because of tendering delays for all of the tours that morning, we sailed from Belize two hours late.

 

In Belize, one couple of our traveling companions had planned to go cave tubing for the day, but the excursion was canceled because of unusually heavy rains the night before. They were very disappointed. They ended up at the Belize Zoo, which they enjoyed. The other couple did the ship-sponsored tour to the Mayan Ruins and Altun Ha and River Wallace. They reported that they saw a lot of native animals in the wild during their river ride.

 

Click here if you're interested in reading the full review of our Paradise sailing.

 

Happy cruising, everyone!

 

Two Little Sailors: Victoria's First and Benjamin's Fourth cruise -- Carnival Victory, October 2003

 

Benjamin Sails to Bermuda-- Carnival Triumph, May 2002

 

Benjamin's Birthday Cruise -- Carnival Destiny, Jan. 2002

 

Benjamin's First Cruise -- Carnival Victory 2000

 

 

Paradise 3/04 - Exotic W. Caribbean

Carnival Victory 10/03 - Bahamas

Carnival Triumph 5/02 - Bermuda

Carnival Destiny 1/02 - S. Caribbean

Carnival Victory 10/00 - Nassau

Inspiration 7/99 - S. Caribbean

Tropicale 1/99 - W. Caribbean

Carnival Destiny 7/97 - W. Caribbean

Fantasy 4/96 - Bahamas

Fantasy 7/94 - Bahamas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you for the review. My mom and I are going to Belize (via the Carnvial Miracle) in January. We need help deciding between Xunantunich Ruins and the Altun Ha ruins. Any advice? Do you have pictures from Xunantunich? Thanks for your help.

Carolie Marie (caroliemarie@rushmore.com)

 

Miracle January 2005

countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=da70d6&cdt=2005;1;2;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500

Carnival Victory Dec 2003

Carnival Sensation Jan 2003

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, Carolie Marie. We haven't been to Altun Ha, but several sets of friends have gone. They enjoyed the River Wallace tour associated with that excursion. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Xunantunich. Although it's about an hour longer than Altun Ha, the tour really seemed to pass quickly. Here are several photos of our visit there - http://community.webshots.com/album/129951844ljfDJg Hope you have a great cruise!

 

10th Anniversary Cruise -- Paradise, March 2004

 

Two Little Sailors: Victoria's First and Benjamin's Fourth cruise -- Carnival Victory, October 2003

 

Benjamin Sails to Bermuda-- Carnival Triumph, May 2002

 

Benjamin's Birthday Cruise -- Carnival Destiny, Jan. 2002

 

Benjamin's First Cruise -- Carnival Victory 2000

 

 

Paradise 3/04 - Exotic W. Caribbean

Carnival Victory 10/03 - Bahamas

Carnival Triumph 5/02 - Bermuda

Carnival Destiny 1/02 - S. Caribbean

Carnival Victory 10/00 - Nassau

Inspiration 7/99 - S. Caribbean

Tropicale 1/99 - W. Caribbean

Carnival Destiny 7/97 - W. Caribbean

Fantasy 4/96 - Bahamas

Fantasy 7/94 - Bahamas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...